Class War

The signs are unmistakeable. The Class War is on, full tilt. The central raw fact is this: 1 percent of the population gets one-quarter of all income, and owns 40% of the nation's wealth.

All the shouting and screaming among the people is chiefly directed to making this worse by stressing anti-government attitudes, favoring "privatization," and booming ignorantist candidates for office who can be counted on to curry influence with the rich by pushing their agenda. The agenda of the rich can be simply stated: open the road to their getting even more of the income and wealth of the nation into their hands. It is the apotheosis of greed, the ultimate statement of fealty to the Great God Mammon. Ye gods, what a picture of national lunacy! Or, as it may be, world lunacy, since the same thing seems to be going on nearly everywhere.

It would be nice to say some sort of relief lies directly ahead, but I do not see where it can come from. The government is quite corrupt at present and would have to be cleansed somehow. By whom and how? The rich are corrupt. Nothing new there. Some sort of catastrophe is our only hope. Not a gradual improvement, but a sudden shocking change of some kind that would leave our present rich without ownership of the media and the leading think tanks, bereft, that is, of their usual bugles, and relatively helpless against a great swelling of the rage of the people. But I find it impossible to think of this in any detail or with any glee because it will certainly be an ugly business, very hard indeed on the mass of people.

So I won't think of it any further today. Perhaps think of it tomorrow.